If you're trying to grow your knowledge base and get involved in the NFT space as quickly as possible, you've come to the right place.
This post will summarize all of my learnings from Month 1 (Dec 2021) of dabbling with NFT's.
None of this is financial advice and this post is solely informative. The information is based on my personal learnings, and the learnings of my close friends who got into NFT's and Crypto very early on, including BAYC at less than 0.5 $ETH floor (Jan 2022 now over 70 ETH!)
Getting Started-Wallets and $ETH
I'm normally really conservative when it comes to investing and taking financial risks. It would've been easy to say: nah I don't think I'm going to get involved with this stuff, too expensive, it's a bubble, too this, too that. But the fact is that you can make a lot of money, quickly if you do your research and have a strategy. Also, the community aspect of it, how crypto is involved, and what all of this stuff can do for transaction costs, speed, and security of property in the future is promising.
I decided I wanted to be early into a space for once, and take a risk. Glad to see you're doing the same.
The steps you need to take to get established are:
Learn about cryptocurrency/get some $ETH
If you already have Voyager, Coinbase, etc. You can skip this step
NFT's on OpenSea (where I and many others trade) are traded with $ETH. I got into crypto a few months before NFT's. Also a lot of fun. You'll need some kind of easy-to-use wallet for your crypto investing, and to get money into your NFT-related wallet. I like using Voyager. If you use that link or enter my referral code 8D8B6D when you sign up, we'll both get $25 in Bitcoin ($BTC) when you invest your first $100
Another good wallet, place to learn and also earn free crypto is Coinbase and their Learn to Earn program. Basically, you watch short informative videos, take easy quizzes, and get free crypto. Their platform/wallet is another good, easy-to-use one. For any wallet, you just need to enter information, verify it with your ID, connect your bank account and you're pretty much set
A good resource to get more detail on every token: https://coinmarketcap.com/
Setup a MetaMask and fund it with $ETH (There are other wallets, but MetaMask seems to be pretty commonly used/universal)
Similar to crypto, you'll likely just need to follow the signup steps, verify your identity, and then you have an account.
Use the receive function to get your meta mask wallet address, copy it
Go into voyager or whatever wallet you're using, and then find the send ETH function (pull up ETH, click transfer, click send ETH out of Voyager)
Click it, paste your wallet address, send however much you want
NOTE: You'll have to pay a fee, sometimes they're hefty. We'll get to gas fees later on
NOTE 2: For crypto and NFT's, be very careful with your addresses or you could lose crypto and NFT's without the possibility of recovery. Writing down and safely storing your password recovery string is also extremely important
NOTE 3: Only invest what you can afford to lose, or you risk putting yourself in a bad position
You're ready to trade NFT's
Now that you have a place to acquire and send crypto, and a metamask or other wallet to hold your NFT's-you officially can start exploring OpenSea and investing
Open Sea app-not great. You'll probably be confused as to why you can't buy/sell within the app. There is some reason you can't, you'll have to use the browser within metamask, or shop on a desktop. Pick what you'll normally use and use that all the time because whenever you switch you'll have to enter your seed phrase string and reset your password.
Sometimes certain mints basically require you to do it on desktop, can be a little bit confusing, but this is where the community comes into play. Join the discord of NFT communities you're looking to buy into, and people will gladly help you out very quickly if it's a solid community
You don't need to do this ahead of time, but I'd recommend setting up a discord account. Any NFT you get will have a discord server where the community can engage. Might as well create an account and get in front of it
NFT FAQs + Helpful Resources
Everything in this section is a question that came up as I dove down the NFT rabbit hole. Reading each of these as you're getting started can save you time and money.
Are there any benefits to getting hearts/likes on your NFT in OpenSea?
It doesn't hurt, could serve as a differentiator to a prospective buyer
Can you change your account name on OpenSea?
Yes, Account, Settings, Username
How do you decide what to buy? Rarity score? Serial number? Other?
https://rarity.tools/ Explore NFT traits, rarity, value, floor prices, direct links to NFT's, etc.
Buys should be made based on a blend of factors. Do you like the art or utility of the NFT? What is its rarity score? Are you doing a long-term play, or a flip? What traits are rarer. Questions like this will guide you to the right one
You bought an NFT and now have like $100 sitting in your account, what should you do with it?
Most NFT's aren't this inexpensive, keep it in your account for gas fees.
What are gas fees? (important)
Gas fees are basically transaction fees and they fluctuate. They can get expensive. One thing I've learned quickly is that when you list, delist, buy, sell, or transfer crypto-there are fees. Less popular times usually = less gas fees. Try to transfer ETH only when needed/in larger quantities to minimize fees. Only list if you're confident in the price so you don't have to cancel or relist for an additional fee
In my eyes, fees cut into profits and they can get expensive! Avoid them.
If you do low-it's very slightly cheaper and possible the transaction might not go through, but you still lose your money. Do medium to high every time.
Would love additional feedback on gas and other fees and how you can avoid them in the comments
How can I get active with my NFT?
Join the discord of the NFT project you bought or might purchase. Communicate with the community. When (or if) you go to sell, you can promote the sale of your NFT in the discord to a community of people who will be interested too
Get active on Twitter
Tell your friends about it
Create and share meme's
Are there risks to sharing the link to your NFT in OpenSea?
Nope! Just do not ever share your seed code (password string) and be careful of clicking links in discords. There are sadly a lot of scammers out there!
Bidding vs Buying
You can set up a buy now price and/or an auction
If the floor is going down, the bidding might be a good option. You'll usually get lowball offers but can always ignore them or counter them
Seller pays gas fees on auctions, so they can be advantageous in that sense
If you buy something, you pay gas
When should I list and how much should I list for?
This is really dependent on your personal preference and how much $ETH you want to make. My friends and I are on board with listing for a price you'd be happy with getting. But sometimes it could also make sense to not list, wait for the floor to rise, then when the floor is where you could make some good money, go ahead and list. This would also contribute to minimizing fees. I listed, relisted, and canceled a few sales that cut into my initial profits. A good way to learn a lesson the hard way.
List with a shorter time period of expiration. You won't pay any fees/penalties for it expiring
How do I get a picture of my NFT to save as an avatar?
This seems like such a simple thing but it is honestly quite difficult. I went with a high-quality screenshot that was edited to be the right size in the end. But I've seen some cases where you can download it and just have the exact image. The trouble comes when the file downloads in an odd, unuseable, untransferrable format. If you get a low-quality screenshot, people could think you're faking/scamming too
Should I buy a .ETH name? What are the benefits? How to?
Major benefit-no more need to copy and paste a long address, you have a recognizable name people can type in that will auto-populate your wallet address from there
Become a part of that community
There is a token associated it that was airdropped to holders (that might not happen anymore)
It's like buying a domain. app.ens.domains. Search for one you want. Buy it
lower digits (5 or less) more expensive. EX: rizzay.eth minimum 1 year, max 10 years $50 + gas
What is the best way to track whales and what do you look for?
Not necessary, but could help you find some good projects early
If anyone has any recommendations on this, please leave them in the comments!
If my OpenSea NFT listing is set to the max 6 months and doesn't sell, does the listing just expire? Do you pay fees like you were canceling?
Only pay gas fees if you cancel
If a listing expires, no more fees are required
Have you ever set up royalties on future sales? How do you do this?
Only the project sets that up pre-mint
Royalties go to the platform you're using (ex: opensea) and then project creator (ex: Spoiled Banana Society) can get them too
What is minting?
Minting is when a new NFT is essentially created and revealed, so you get in at the lowest floor and have a higher opportunity at a return in many cases
When you mint you're the original owner of that particular NFT
If you lower a listing price, can people see that you did that?
Yes if you don't delist the initial listing
I lowered my listing price so now I have 2 listings for my NFT. Should I cancel one to only have one or just leave it and if someone buys the lower one, the fees will be taken care of by the buyer?
Don't need to cancel
List for a shorter time period so old listings will expire with no fees
If you have it set to expire 6 months out, still no need to cancel. If the sale goes through, the other listing will go away without any associated fees
What are some signs to get into an NFT?
Unique projects
Discords/Communities with a lot of activity
Excitement about the project, not just price
Also look at the price vs project
Real utility, in real life benefits, opportunities to get free NFT's or $ETH airdropped
Team that knows what they're doing
What are some signs to sell an NFT, or that an NFT's value could plummet?
NFT's are a highly volatile asset and they can move together. If the market is down, even a good project could be down
If you follow the good signs, that's the safest bet. And try to take some profits! Only use money you can afford to lose
I will be adding to this list as I learn more! Please ask a question in the comments if you have one. I will always update this post to make it a more helpful resource as time goes on, and help more people get involved with NFT's!
My First 2 Projects/Examples
I am so excited about this project. Started by a crew of BAYC members, the aim is to bring a unique form of fantasy football to the blockchain. Only 10K cards are going to be minted (Start of Jan 2022 we're at about 5500).
You can find all of the details via the link above, but here's the gist of it:
When you mint a card you get a lifetime membership
Each week you set your lineup, weekly top 75 win $ETH, the more the better you place
Each season Winners, middle of the pack, and losers win $ETH
A bored ape, super bowl tickets, and other IRL (a common acronym you'll see-in real life) utility is offered with these
AND once they're all minted, it's like an exclusive fantasy football club. In my opinion, the value of these is going to absolutely skyrocket once all 10K are minted
.08 $ETH + Gas (was ~$350 for me). Week 1 I won $100. Again, LIFETIME membership. So if you get one card and hold it forever, it seems to me that it's impossible to lose money on this investment. If you never won and got sick of it, good chance you'll be able to sell your card for more than what you minted it for
Most importantly, the concept is awesome! You get your card revealed, then you select a team/position, and the highest scorer on that team/position gets you the points. Kind of like best ball with fantasy football. For example, if I have a Tampa Bay Wide Receiver, and Mike Evans has the best game of all TB WR's, his points would count towards my lineup.
Go get as many of these as you can before they sell out and it becomes unaffordable. $350 is an insanely inexpensive way to buy into the NFT space. And as mentioned above, minting provides a good opportunity for ROI
Andy put a lot of time into developing a fully on-chain NFT, with utility and IRL events. Gary Vee just bought one after a call with Andy, and the community has been awesome so far. One guy gave out his Starbucks barcode so that anyone could get some coffee/breakfast if they wanted. Here's the basic details:
You're buying a goat that is in some kind of soup, with unique traits
Specific to andy-you can get "peas" as a hat (for those familiar with: got peas on my head, don't call me a pea head" lol)
Other traits are the fur color, the bowl, type of soup, horns, eyes, etc.
This is pretty new and has the bones of a quality NFT investment
UPDATE: Sold my goat soup. Purchased for .1898, sold for .23. Nothing major, but a profit and a great learning experience. Keeping that ETH in hopes of growth after the recent decline.
Thank you so much for reading! I welcome questions and feedback in the comments section!
Comments